Phyl Her Up! in the name of Phyllis Santos

As you may already know, Phyllis Santos, my grandmother, is undergoing invasive testing to become a lung transplant candidate at Mass General Hospital in Boston. We are very hopeful she will qualify. In order to make this happen, she will need to go back and forth to Boston 2-3 times a week for the next 2 months, sometimes 4 times a week if necessary.

For those of you who are not aware, she was diagnosed with COPD in 2012 which has changed her life and those who love and care for her. Phyllis is a 68-year-old woman who is relatively healthy despite her chronic lung disease. Since her diagnosis, she has been in and out of the hospital with acute respiratory failure, pneumonia, etc. Most recently, she was hospitalized for 2 weeks at St. Luke’s Hospital for acute respiratory failure which required ICU level care and faced death twice on that hospital admission alone. At this point, her family and friends who love her so dearly knew it was time to consider lung transplant as it was her only hope.

She has so much to live for including her husband of 37 years, her 3 children, and her 7 grandchildren. Her primary caregiver will be her husband Bob, who spent 37 years dedicating his life to serving his country and now is serving his wife. Phyllis loves her family more than anything. She also has many amazing friends who support her unconditionally. Phyllis loves to spend time with family, bowl, go to church, serve the hungry at her local food pantry, and hang at Fort Phoenix beach in the summer.

While Phyllis and Bob are in a very good situation regarding health care insurance, there will be many unforeseen costs that will arise. This includes lodging, transportation, food, gas, and help with their daily bills as Bob will be taking time away from work to care for Phyllis.

Please consider buying a t-shirt to support Phyllis’ cause and help allow her to continue living and loving her life.